The X-Files: Fight the Future
"Fight The Future" Mulder and Scully uncover a government conspiracy attempting to hide the truth about an alien colonization of Earth. Summary NORTH TEXAS 35,000 B.C. As the wind howls around them, two cavemen follow a set of strange tracks across a vast snowy plain. Entering a cave, they are attacked by the alien that left the tracks. Although one of the men is killed, the other manages to injure the creature. However, a thick, black substance pours out of the alien as it lies dormant on a rock. The remaining man touches the substance with a primitive torch made from wood and soon discovers that he is covered in it. As the substance begins to move over him, he grunts and roars in intense agony. NORTH TEXAS PRESENT DAY Thousands of years later, a boy called Stevie Richardson falls into a large pit in the ground. Three of his friends gather round the top of the pit, gazing down at Stevie with concern. He soon finds many human bones, including a human skull with a hole at the back, and becomes infected with the same black substance that killed the prehistoric cavemen. In an attempt to find help, Stevie's friends run from the top of the pit to a nearby residential area in Blackwood County. Later that day, two fire engines from the County Fire Department arrive at the scene. Fire Captain Miles Cooles exits one of the vehicles and runs towards the cave. He sends two fire fighters, Danny and T.C., into the pit. Using his radio, Cooles reports the location of the rescue situation to officers in Dallas. When he tries to contact T.C., no one responds. Consequently, he advises Danny to check T.C.'s radio before ordering two other officers, Glenn and Sal, to enter the cave. Later, a helicopter from Dallas arrives at the scene and HAZMAT suited men in white exit the aircraft, carrying a bubble litter. A doctor named Ben Bronschweig also exits the craft and clears the area of several curious civilians, clustered nearby. Cooles informs Doctor Bronschweig of the situation as they walk towards the cave. They watch as the HAZMAT team carry Stevie to the helicopter inside the bubble litter. Bronschweig seems extremely concerned as the boy's paralyzed body passes him. However, Cooles' only concern is for his officers in the pit. As the helicopter takes flight with Stevie aboard, a fleet of unmarked, white Freightliner trucks arrive and surround the fire engines. Cooles is puzzled as Bronschweig walks away. Near one of the trucks, the doctor phones his employer and tells him that an impossible scenario that they have never planned for is imminent. FEDERAL BUILDING DALLAS, TEXAS ONE WEEK LATER Helicopter N87WC swoops through the air and lands on the roof of the Federal Building, where many FBI agents are positioned. Special Agent in Charge Darius Michaud exits the aircraft and walks towards another FBI agent. The man tells Michaud that the Federal Building has been evacuated and searched. However, the FBI agents have found no trace of an explosive device. Although the agents have sent dogs to search through the building, Michaud tells the man to send the dogs again and walks away. Reluctantly, the wearisome FBI agent tells the other officers to begin again. Michaud walks to the edge of the roof and watches another FBI agent on top of an adjacent building. Special Agent Dana Scully calls Special Agent Fox Mulder to inform him that she is on the roof across the street of the federal building. Mulder then uses the element of surprise to see her. She then explains that unconventional thinking would only get him into trouble, She also says, "that they closed the X-Files. There's new procedure to follow now protocol." COUNTY OF SOMERSET, ENGLAND When spending time with his family in England, the Well-Manicured Man is called to a meeting of the Syndicate in London. Upon arrival, all of the other members are present, and he has to give his apoloies for being late, owing to his grandson breaking his leg. Background Information *This was only the second 20th Century Fox Television-produced series to transfer to the big screen; the first was Batman in 1966. *A working title of this movie was X-Files: Blackwood. *A commonly used tagline of this movie was Fight the Future. However, this line was often written close to the movie's title, leading some people to believe that the tagline was a part of the movie's title. *The movie was filmed in the hiatus between Seasons 4 and 5 of The X-Files, and reshoots were done during the filming of Season 5, which meant that some episodes of that season do not revolve around Mulder and/or Scully, because either David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson or both actors were unavailable. Examples of these episodes include "Unusual Suspects" (in which Scully does not appear), "Christmas Carol" (featuring a single scene with Mulder), "Chinga" (which focuses primarily on Scully), and "Travelers" (in which Scully does not appear). *The movie plays an integral role in the ongoing storylines of the television series The X-Files, set between Seasons 5 and 6 of the series, but it is also a stand-alone film. Similarly, it can be understood by both fans, and viewers who have never seen The X-Files before. For example, the black alien virus is intended to be the black oil from the television series, but this fact is only implied by the appearance of the black substance and the connection is never outrightly stated. Due to its accessible nature, the movie was responsible for introducing the show to a new group of fans. *The bomb at the start of the movie has been frequently likened to the real-life Oklahoma City Bombing of 1995. *In one scene, Mulder urinates on a wall that displays a poster for the 1996 20th Century Fox co-produced film Independence Day. Apparently, writer and producer Chris Carter deliberately added the reference as he hated the film. Like The X-Files Movie, however, Independence Day also involved extraterrestrials and UFOs on Earth. It referenced The X-Files in a scene near the start of the movie in which a SETI employee talking during a phone call says, "I love The X-Files, too. I hope you get to see it." The line was not in the script used to film Independence Day and was presumably only added while filming the movie. *According to several different May 1998 newspaper articles on the rising costs of film production, 20th Century Fox spent around 60 million dollars promoting the film worldwidehttp://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0%2C1%2C2979%2C00.html, and the production budget, originally said to be 60 million dollars as well, was eventually revealed to have been closer to 66 million. With a minimum expenditure of 126 million dollars for production/promotion, the movie had a worldwide gross of slightly over 189 million, of which the studio would have received around about 55%. Cast *David Duchovny as Agent Fox Mulder *Gillian Anderson as Agent Dana Scully *John Neville as The Well-Manicured Man *William B. Davis as The Cigarette-Smoking Man *Martin Landau as Kurtzweil *Mitch Pileggi as Assistant Director Walter Skinner *Jeffrey De Munn as Bronschweig *Blythe Danner as Cassidy *Terry O'Quinn as Michaud *Armin Mueller-Stahl as Strughold *Lucas Black as Stevie *Chris Fennell as 2nd Boy *Cody Newton as 3rd Boy *Blake Stokes as 4th Boy *Dean Haglund as Langly (The Lone Gunmen) *Bruce Harwood as Byers (The Lone Gunmen) *Tom Braidwood as Frohike (The Lone Gunmen) *Don S. Williams as Group Elder *George Murdock as 2nd Elder *Michael Shamus Wiles as Black-Haired Man *Craig Davis as Primitive #1 *Carrick O'Quinn as Primitive #2 *Tom Woodruff, Jr. as Creature #1 *Gregory B. Ballora as Creature #2 *T.W. King as FBI Agent on Roof *Luis Beckford as FBI Agent *Steve Rankin as Field Agent *Gary Grubbs as Fire Captain Miles Cooles *Steven M. Gagnon as Last Agent Out *Lawrence Joshua as DC Cop *Glendon Rich as DC Cop #2 *Gunther Jenson as Security Guard *Scott Smith as Technician *Ian Ruskin as Well-Manicured Man's Valet *Paul Welterlen as Control Room Operator *Joel Traywick as Young Naval Guard *Milton Johns as British Valet *Paul Tuerpé as 1st Paramedic *Michael A. Krawic as 2nd Paramedic *Larry Rippenkroeger as Towncar Driver *Josh McLaglen as Buzz Mihoe *Randy Hall as Windbreakered Agent *T.C. Badalato as Fireman *Amine Zary as Tunisian Uncredited *Jason Beghe as FBI Man at Bomb Site *Glenne Headly as Barmaid *Vanessa Morley as Young Samantha Mulder *Mitch Toles as Security Guard #2 *Marcus Turner as Young Fox Mulder References 1998; Blackwood County; Blackwood County Rural/Metro Fire Department; Dallas; Danny; Distant past; Glenn; Sal; T.C.; Texas External Links *The X-Files Movie script *The X-Files Movie at Wikipedia *The X-Files Movie at the Internet Movie Database *The X-Files Movie at Rotten Tomatoes *The X-Files Movie at Metacritic *The X-Files Movie at Box Office Mojo Category:The X-Files Movie